Sunshine Coast eateries shun vomit charge

SUNSHINE Coast restaurant and cafe leaders have been surprised by a bistro's decision to charge a customer extra for cleaning after her child vomited on the premises.

Dion Spadaro, general manager of The Boat Shed at Cotton Tree, was shocked to hear that a Montville bistro had charged a customer for the loss of space and staff time while the mess was cleaned up.

"It's not something that we would do. It's not like we don't have buckets and cleaning equipment," Mr Spadaro said.

"We look after our customers whatever their needs are.

"If customers make a mess in the toilet, we clean that up. If someone makes a mess elsewhere, we clean that up, that's what we do."

Reader poll

How much would it cost for you to clean up someone elses vomit?

This poll ended on 23 May 2016.

Current Results

I'd do it for free to help out if it was needed.

65%

$10 would be enough.

10%

No amount of money would be enough for me to do that.

23%

This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

Gavin Murray, of Murray's Cafe, at Cotton Tree, said there was "no way in the world" he would charge a fee for cleaning up after a child had vomited at his business.

"On the weekend, we had a mum whose little girl was sick at the table. She made it to the toilets but must have made a bit of a mess. The mum was very apologetic and we said it's not a problem," Mr Murray said

"We ran out, grabbed the mop and bucket and between us, got it done and got back to work.

"We've all been there, we've all got kids.

"There's no way we would charge someone for their child being sick. It's something that no-one can predict. You just deal with it."

Michael Mulhearne, the owner of Tides Waterfront Dining at Caloundra, said the restaurant business was about customer service and he would not charge a fee to clean up after a customer.

"I understand it but I wouldn't do it," he said.

Mr Mulhearne said the parent should take most of the responsibility for cleaning up after their child but he would also expect restaurant staff to help.

He said the fee would cost the bistro far more in the long run than it was worth.

"They are going to lose that customer for life, they have lost a heap of other customers. They are not going to get anything good out of it except for their name in the paper."

Another restaurant figure, who declined to be named, was also surprised at the fee.

"We would never do that in our restaurant. If the mum helped clean up, even better, but we would never charge them," she said.